Published bi-weekly by
Read to Me, a service of the Idaho Commission for Libraries
In this Issue:
Welcome
THE TURKEY
The turkey is a funny bird. (Make tail by hooking thumbs and speading fingers)
His head goes wobble, wobble. (Wobble your head)
All he says is just one word.
Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!
Good luck to all of you who are celebrating Idaho Family Reading Week November 11 - 17. We'd love to hear about your events. The Scoop staff is taking Thanksgiving off and the next Scoop will be out on November 30th. Happy November!
Meet Jeanne Farnworth
Jeanne Farnworth is the youth services librararian for the Portneuf District Library in Chubbuck, where she has worked for the past five years. The library serves over 20,000 Bannock County residents surrounding the city of Pocatello. This population includes Native American families living on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, migrant Hispanic workers and their families, Asian Americans, African American and Caucasian families. The community is an eclectic mixture of rural and urban lifestyles. The Portneuf District Library is constantly evolving as the needs of the community change.
Jeanne works with all ages. She does "Book Worms," a lapsit program, and story times for the preschool set. She also does after school programs like High Seas Adventure; As Captain Jeanne, each month she and her group set sail for a different land with stories and crafts! "Lab at the Library," a monthly science adventure for all ages, is another fun program she coordinates. The library has a successful "Dinner & a Book with Dad" program that Jeanne facilitates for about 40 dads and their kids. Jeanne also does all the young adult activities. She tries to keep up with all the technology that teens are using. The library recently opened the Virtual Café, where older kids can use computers, watch a DVD, play Wii, listen to CDs or just snack. And, she does at least one health/fitness related event for all ages (even adults) each month.
The Portneuf Library's outreach is quite extensive, as are their community partners. Jeanne does an elementary after school program for at risk kids. She also does monthly workshops at the Teen Parent Center to encourage literacy for both the young parents and their children. The library was lucky enough to be part of the Great Stories Book Club for teens involved in the juvenile justice system. She partnered with the alternative high school and had such a wonderful response that the library funded another round of Great Stories books to be shared at the school. Jeanne also writes grants to help fund some of her ideas for programs.
Jeanne has always loved to read, and in the back of her mind, working in a library has always been her dream job. When this job came open, she brought it to the front of her mind and jumped right in. Other than being surrounded by books and readers all day, her favorite part of the job is the variety of the tasks she performs. Jeanne related, "Story time is a favorite. The kids are so happy and you're left with such happy feelings...what a BLAST! Outreach at the Teen Parent Center is another favorite. I see so much potential and young parents trying so hard to be the best they can be...very inspirational." 
Lately, one of Jeanne's favorite children's books is Lucky Pennies and Hot Chocolate, by Carol Shields, calling it "just a cute story." As a child Jeanne read everything and still does...fiction, non-fiction, biography, mystery, humor. Recently, she has been reading the Journals of Lewis and Clark, Heaven, and A Year in the Merde. Jeanne's favorite flavor of ice cream is plain old vanilla (perfect with a bowl of warm popcorn). Her favorite pastimes include spending time with her family, gardening, camping, and reading!
Library to Library
Teens and Tech Couse Filling Up Fast. If you are interested in signing up for the upcoming Teens and Tech 2008 online and face-to-face workshops, space is filling up quickly. For more information and the online registration form, see http://libraries.idaho.gov/files/default/regfrm20071026Swal.pdf. ICFL staff report 13 people have already signed up!
Buhl Public Library celebrated Teen Read Week with three days of special events. The events started after school at 3:30 p.m. and were open to middle and high school students. They were designed to celebrate reading by sharing popular movies based on teen books. Special guest readers shared excerpts on teen books. The library also invited Buhl Middle School Librarian Julie Van Sickle to do a special book talk on great books for teens. Movies were shown under the library's licensing agreement that did not allow for title promotion. Free popcorn and other snacks for the book reading was provided. (Source: Buhl Herald)
Coeur d’Alene Families Walk Into Reading
Parents and their kids were asked to join in a walk to promote reading and more. Beginning at 11 a.m. on a recent Saturday morning at North Idaho College's Molstead Library, families walked to the new Coeur d’Alene Public Library to promote its children's department.
The Walk Into Reading event was hosted by the ICARE Children and Family Advocacy Center and Kootenai Alliance for Children and Families, which hope to make it an annual event.
"Our mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect, and family literacy has been shown to correlate with abuse and neglect," said Beth Barclay, ICARE executive director. "A few moments with a child curling up with a good book and their parents reading goes a long way in establishing a strong parent-child bond."
A T-shirt and book were available for the first 250 children registered for the event. Families could register at 10:30 a.m. the day of the walk for $7. The proceeds benefited ICARE. The group also offered several tips for parents on how to bring up a book lover, including getting physically close while reading. "That way they connect reading a book with that safe feeling of being in a parent's lap," Barclay said.
Young Adult Corner
Keeping the Momentum Going in Library Teen Groups
By Tina Cherry. Tina is the young adult programmer at Jerome Public Library. She'd love to hear what you're doing with teens in your library!
It is a challenge to keep a group of digital natives coming to the library on a scheduled basis. The older they get, the more extra-curricular obligations they have. Their time is at a premium, so to get buy-in and long term commitment from them, libraries need to offer more than just something to do. Anna Warns and Jeanne Farnworth shared their thoughts about what it takes to keep a group involved and motivated to keep coming month after month, year after year. Though there are many different programs a library can offer that will attract different groups of teens, this article will focus on the backbone of teen groups – teen advisory boards and youth advisory committees.
Give them something real: Give the group a voice that has real influence. Anna takes her library’s TAB shopping for books for the YA collection, and they make decisions about programs for themselves and their peers. Jeanne stresses the importance of listening to what they want from the library and following through.
Feed them. When I started serving teens, I took the first online advice I found—feed them. Since my YAC meets after school, giving them something to eat and drink at meetings is not only nice, it’s practical. Potential new members are often drawn in by their stomachs, and eventually come for other reasons.
Keep order. When asked about disruptive individuals, Jeanne said, “I just kind of call them out and say something like, ‘this is a young adult event, if you can’t act right, you shouldn’t be here.’” If disruptive behavior continues, “You’re done.” It’s important to protect the group from constant irritation. One person can derail even a large group if poor behavior isn’t addressed.
Fun is important. Team building games for working groups can bring a lot of laughs, and laughs bring teens back. An added bonus is that the games really do work to help build stronger working teams. Many games take little or no preparation. Do a web search for the keywords: games teen group. Even the silliest games are good in a group that has a history of working and playing together.
Be their advocate. Teens often look like adults and act like toddlers. Those of us who work directly with teens tend to accept this, and maybe even enjoy it! However, our colleagues in other departments may interpret high spirits in this age group as nothing more than bad behavior. Work to increase tolerance and understanding while the teens are growing into well rounded adults with fond memories of their younger days in the library. Never stop talking to staff about the difference the library can make to them as growing individuals, and the difference they can make for your library now and when they’re adults with a stake in their community.
Size Matters. TABs and YACs are working groups and they vote. Last school year, my library had over thirty YAC members, which looks good on paper, but the meetings with terrific attendance were also the least productive and satisfying. A group that large better suits activity-based programming than planning and voting. On the other hand, too few members tend to lack enough diversity of ideas and opinions, and their choices for programming can limit the appeal to a broad teen audience. A diverse group composed of eight to fifteen members with representatives that are male and female, middle and high school age, readers and self proclaimed non-readers has worked best in our library over the years.
Recruit. When teens move on, you’ll need to recruit all over again. Teachers and school media specialists can help with that – referring students that already have an interest in libraries and the desire to join a working group. There’s no set formula to recruiting. Sometimes a new teen will wander into the library at the right time and all it takes is an invitation to come to a meeting and see what it is all about.
Get started! Libraries that are looking to start teen groups now have a great resource in the many libraries that have learned through trial and error. Call a library with a successful teen group. Ask your burning questions. Then jump in and try it.
Book Look
Nampa Public Library's T.A.L.K. picks their favorite teen reads
Nampa's T.A.L.K. (Teen Association of Literary Knowledge) plays an important role in future library teen programs and in designing the new teen area in their new building. Library staff invitearea teens to help create fun library activities and spaces! All area teens ages 13-18 are invited to attend their monthly meetings. They hold them at 4 p.m. and they typically last 1.5 hours).
During Teen Read Week, members of T.A.L.K. and other Nampa teens voted on their "Top 3 YALSA Books for Teen Read Week 2007." Here are their selections:
Maximum Ride: School’s Out-Forever, by James Patterson
New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer
Road of the Dead, by Kevin Brooks
Check to see how Nampa's votes stacked up against others through the U.S. at www.ala.org/teenstopten
To see the list of books that were nominated go to http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/teenreading/teenstopten/TTT2007_rev.pdf
Upcoming Events in December
December 4 -12 - Hanukkah - Also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday beginning on the 25th day of the month of Kislev, which may fall anytime from late November to late December. It celebrates the re-kindling of the Temple menorah at the time of the Maccabee rebellion. For more see www.infoplease.com/spot/hanukkah.html
December 15 - The Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791. The United States Bill of Rights consists of the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution. Read more about this important historical document at: http://www.billofrights.com/ and www.usconstitution.net/constkids4.html.
December 22 (6:12 a.m.) – Winter Solstice begins. The Winter Solstice, historically known as Midwinter, occurs around December 21 or 22 each year in the Northern hemisphere, and June 20 or 21 in the Southern Hemisphere. It occurs on the shortest day or longest night of the year, marking the astronomical beginning of winter. Worldwide, interpretation of the event varies from culture to culture, but most hold a recognition of rebirth, involving festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations. For more go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice
December 25 – Christmas Day - A Christmas Carol was the first book ever to be transmitted over radio in 1939. Read this or other selections by Charles Dickens at: www.literature.org/authors/dickens-charles/
December 26 – January 1 - Kwanzaa (or Kwaanza) - It is a week-long Pan-African festival primarily honoring African-American heritage. It is observed from December 26 to January 1 each year, almost exclusively in the United States of American. For more on Kwanzaa go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwanzaa or http://www.tike.com/celeb-kw.htm
Some additional events in December include: December 6 - Mitten Tree Day, December 9 - National Pastry Day (www.holidayinsights.com/other/pastryday.htm),
December 21 - Look At The Bright Side Day, National Flashlight Day, and Hamburger Day, December 28 - Card Playing Day and National Chocolate Day
Authors' Birthdays:
December 1 - Jan Brett (1949). Jan Brett loved to draw when she was a child. By the time she was six, she knew she wanted to be a children's book illustrator. She was shy as a child and liked to use her drawings as a way to express herself. Her very first "all her own" book to be published was Fritz and the Beautiful Horses in 1981. Some of her other titles include Daisy Comes Home, Gingerbread Baby and On Noah's Ark. For more on Jan Brett go to http://www.janbrett.com/
December 10 - Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). Though virtually unknown in her lifetime, Dickinson has come to be regarded, as one of the two quintessential American poets of the 19th century. Some of her published works include Poems for Youth and Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. For additional information on Dickinson go to www.emilydickinson.org/ or www.online-literature.com/dickinson/
December 10 - Mercer Mayer (1943). Mayer has published over 300 books using a wide range of illustrative styles. Mayer is probably best known for his “Little Critter" and "Little Monster" series of books. Some of his books include A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog, There's a Nightmare in My Closet, All By Myself and more. For more on Mayer see http://www.littlecritter.com/
December 14 – John Neufeld (1938). From the age of about 10, Neufeld thought it would be fun to be a writer. Why? Because it meant he would be his own boss and because it meant he would never have to retire. Some of his works include Lisa, Bright and Dark, For All the Wrong Reasons, Boy’s Lie and more. See http://johnneufeld.com/ for more.
December 19 - Eve Bunting (born in 1928). Born in Ireland, Bunting grew up in a tradition steeped in the art of storytelling and the magic of words. Since the first book, a retelling of an old Irish folktale about the giant Finn McCool, she has carried on her homeland's storytelling tradition in over a hundred books for children and young adults. She is the author of Nasty Stinky Sneakers, The Skate Patrol, The Mother's Day Mice and more. See www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-bunting-eve.asp
December 23 - Avi (born in 1937). Avie was born in New York and raised in Brooklyn. His twin sister gave him the nick name “Avi” when they were both about a year old. And it stuck. When asked ‘do you have any advice for people who want to write?’ he says, “I believe reading is the key to writing. The more you read, the better your writing can be.” He is the author of Abigail Takes the Wheel, Second Sight, Midnight Magic and more. For more about Avi see http://www.avi-writer.com/
Summer Reading News
2008 Summer Reading Manuals Sent to Libraries
The 2008 summer reading manual "Catch the Reading Bug" has been mailed to libraries. It includes the a teen manual "Metamorphisis @ Your Library" too. If you did not receive a copy please check with your library director or the head of your youth services department. If your library did not receive a manual, please call the Commission at (208) 334-2150 [Boise area] or 1-800-458-3271 [toll free].
Don't forget to browse the catalog from Upstart, the CLSP vendor. If you want to order any supplemental matierals, the order deadline is December 1st for shipments to arrive by March 1, 2008. Now is also a great time to plan your calendar for next spring and summer. Chapter 1 has tons of ideas from serving food to registration to tracking summer reading goals. Here are several ideas from page 10 of the manual:
- Attendance Caterpillar - Give each child a pipe cleaner with his or her name on it. Add one colored bead for each storytime or program attended (or book read). At the final session, add a head, wiggle eyes and pipe cleaner attennae are added to finish the caterpillar. They can be displayed in the library or taken home.
- Bug Attendance Jar - Each child receives an inexpensive plastic jar and puts her or his name on it. Purchase a collection of inexpensive plastic bugs. For every storytime or program attended (or book read), the child gets to put a bug in his or her jar.
- Bug Jug - Each child receives a jar cut out of paper and glued to a piece of colorful construction paper. Each time they read a book or read for a certain number of minutes they can stamp a bug on the jar. Or they could cut out or draw pictures of insects to put on the jug.
Idaho librarians visited 230 elementary schools to promote summer reading last year. Make plans now to visit the schools in your community. See pages 73-76 of the manual for ideas for school visits, including a skit. Here's a quick idea: Dress in khaki pants and shirt, a camouflage hat, and carry a butterfly net. Bring a butterfly, pet tarantula or hissing cockroach to spark more interest. There are some great puppets and finger puppets for anyone who is squeamish about bugs!
School Zone
Survival Alphabet Soup
This "alphabet soup" of ideas to keep focused on school library goals and to publicize accomplishments was featured in the November/December 1997 issue of Library Talk. Even though it is ten years old, the tips and advice is just as important today. A pdf version of the article can be found by clicking here or going to http://libraries.idaho.gov/files/default/survival-alphabet-soup.pdf
More than a dozen Idaho school librarians attended the AASL Conference in Reno, NV last month. If you were one of the lucky attendees, we’d love to hear what you got out of the conference. Send Peggy or Stephanie an e-mail about your experience and we’ll send a free book to your school library.
Know the Numbers
Kids and Technology
The Kids and Family Reading ReportTM conducted by Yankelovich and Scholastic in June, 2006 reported that 4 in 10 kids today use a technology device for reading. A computer is the most often used technology platform for reading.
Of the 41% who read using a technology device
The complete report may be found at: http://www.mothergooseprograms.org/literacy_research.php.
A Closer Look at Children's Environments
We’ve been borrowing some great information from Oregon’s Statewide Early Literacy Initiative. You can read more about what our neighbors are doing at http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/LD/youthsvcs/earlylit/ .
Libraries serve an important role in promoting early literacy skills in babies, toddlers, and preschool children. Already, libraries promote these skills through access to books, storytimes, parenting information, knowledgeable staff, and much more. The Oregon State Library has formulated A Framework for Action of several concrete ways public libraries can encourage children, parents, and caregivers to develop reading and language proficiency in four different areas:
• Early Literacy materials/collections
• Atmosphere/children’s environments
• Programming
• Training and staff development.
We thought we would highlight their information about atmosphere/children’s environment in this issue of The Scoop.
Below are several concrete ways you can encourage children, parents, and caregivers to develop reading and language proficiency by looking at your library’s atmosphere and children’s environments. Some libraries may have more defined early literacy programs than others. You may be starting a program (First Steps) or be improving an already great program (Giant Steps). Take a look at the following list and Check off the activities that you’re already doing. Even if you don’t have an early literacy program, you may be surprised by how much you’re already doing to prepare children to read in all three areas. And even if you’ve been working with early literacy for a long time, you may find ideas in First, Next, or Giant Steps that may help you enhance your activities. Regardless as to where you’re at in your program, we hope this inspires you to further help the children in your communities.
First Steps
Greet children with a smile
Welcome parents and caregivers who come into the library with babies
Create a child-friendly and attractive area for kids
Offer play things: stuffed animals, puzzles, doll houses, puppets, pillows, and carpeted spots for children to sit
Post “staff picks of the week” to feature titles of interest to young children
Next Steps
Have child-sized furniture and parent/child furniture
Offer a family bathroom with diaper changing facilities
Provide interactive activities at the child’s eye level (like a magnet board with letters or busy beads)
Have a puppet theatre for dramatic play or a box for imaginary play
Visit another library, children’s museum, or accredited child care for inspiration
Giant Steps
Create a writing area and materials for children; display their work
Create an Early Literacy Committee composed of staff (and/or community members) to inspire and motivate staff to incorporate the latest research into their storytimes
Editor's Note: Several Scoop subscribers attended the "Trading Spaces" Preconference on utilizing retailing methods in your library. We'd love to hear what types of "steps" your library has taken to improve the atmosphere and space for your customers. Send a quick e-mail to Stephanie on what your library is doing and we'll send you a free book!
Tips & Tools
It’s Grant Writing Time!
LSTA Funds: Does you library need funding for a project that helps reach more children? Consider applying for Library Services and Technology Act funds. Draft applications are due December 7, 2007. See for more information or contact your regional field consultant or Read to Me Coordinators Peggy and Stephanie if your project involves outreach to families.
Idaho Community Foundation funds: If you work in northern Idaho, consider applying for a grant from the Idaho Community Foundation. Their grant cycle opened Nov. 1 and grants are due Jan. 15. Grants are awarded in June. More information and online grant applications can be found at http://www.idcomfdn.org/. If you don’t live in northern Idaho, take a look at the Foundation’s web site and mark your calendar for your grant cycle’s timeline. The Idaho Community Foundation has awarded thousands of dollars to school and public libraries in Idaho.
Libri Foundation: If you would like great new books in time for your summer reading program, consider applying for a January grant from the Libri Foundation. The Libri Foundation has generously provided books for many Idaho libraries through the years. Grants are due January 15th (the next cycle of grants are due April 30th, and August 31st). See http://www.librifoundation.org/ for more information and applications.
New Books!
The Idaho Commission for Libraries Professional Development Service (PDS) provides access to numerous titles in the field of library and information sciences. Free shipping to and from your library is provided! See http://libraries.idaho.gov/pds for more information. The following are a few of the recent additions.
Curriculum Partner: Redefining the Role of the Library Media Specialist, by Carol A. Kearney, Greenwood, 2000, [027.8 KEARNEY 2000].
School library media specialists will find this book invaluable for helping them fulfill their role as curriculum partner with teachers and administrators in the collaborative development, implementation, and assessment of the instructional program.
Literature for Today’s Young Adults, by Kenneth L. Donelson and Alleen Pace Nilsen, Pearson, 2005, [ICFL 028.5 DONELSO].
This book was written with the belief that students will have a better chance of becoming life-long readers if they have choices in what they read and if they enjoy it. It offers a comprehensive reader-friendly introduction to young adult literature framed within a rich, literary, historical, and social context.
Children’s Books: A Practical Guide to Selection, by Phyllis J. Van Orden and Sunny Strong, Neal-Schuman, 2007 [ICFL 025.2 VANORDE].
Selecting quality children’s books is both a skill and an art. This handbook offers thorough, comprehensive, annotated lists of recommended titles as well as key strategies for how to choose materials by utilizing easy-to-use criteria and effective principles. You can now be more confident of avoiding “shelf-sitters” by consistently selecting quality relevant titles.
Brain Friendly School Libraries, by Judith Ann Sykes, Libraries Unlimited, 2006, [ICFL 027.8 SYKES].
The author gives concrete practical examples of how to align school library programs and instructional practice with six key concepts on brain-compatible learning. She summarizes the current brain research and current thinking about its implication for instructional practice in the school library media center.
Information Literacy Toolkit: Grades Kindergarten-6, by Jenny Ryan and Steph Capra, ALA, 2001 [ICFL 372.6 RYAN].
This guide and planner, designed to foster collaboration between libraries and classrooms, will equip school library media specialists and teachers to promote and teach information literacy skills to young library users.
Program Ideas
Monthly Reading Activities: A Month of Reading With the NEA
http://www.nea.org/readacross/year/
Here's a collection of ideas for monthly reading activities for children. Includes ideas for Newbery and Caldecott Awards for January, Black History Month in February, National Poetry Month in April, Christopher Robin's birthday in August, National Book Month in October, and the winter solstice in December. Also includes short lists of author birthdays and links to reading lists. From the National Education Association (NEA).
News Beyond Idaho
Fine-Friendly in Colorado
How do some libraries increase circulation and create a student-friendly environment? Here's how one school library did it in Colorado (repirnted from the May 2007 School Library Journal)
"We conducted a survey of students a few years ago and found the number one reason kids did not check out more books at our school, a 7-9 grade confirguration, was they were afraid of getting fines they could not pay.
Since we were determined to increase circulation, our first objective was to become more fine-friendly. We now give a 10-day grace period. Kids love it when we tell them the 'computer' put a fine on their account, but they are 'such good costumers,' we are just going to remove it. Our other means of forgiveness include Food for Fines at the end of each semester, and giving credit for donated books and for performing small jobs. Our circulation soon doubled and then doubled again following our fine forgiveness program.
I always joke with kids that instead of fining them, we've decided to just fine the kids who don't read. I have never considered overdue fines a source of income. If you need income, try getting a little fridge and selling bottled water!" - Charli O'Dell, Boltz Junior High School, Fort Collins, CO
Talk Back: We welcome your feedback on anything in The Scoop. Just e-mail Peggy or Stephanie and we'll print your comments in The Scoop.
